Eternal Art
by Emo-Ki
Summary: Deidara remembers Sasori.


Deidara stares at the new headstone slightly luminescent in the moonlight. None of the other Akatsuki members were worth a headstone but he was. Sasori was. No one but himself knew it was here or that Sasori even has a headstone, let alone a grave. The marble grave maker was something he had a ninja make. Once said ninja made it, Deidara killed him and tossed his body to the scavengers.

"Sorry I couldn't make you one myself." He mutters to his partner. Deidara wishes he knew where Sasori was.

"I mean, clay wouldn't hold up. Its a-a bang, un." Somewhere an owl hoots.

"This...this needs to last because aside from my memory and some broken puppets this rock is the only proof of your existence." A wolf howls in the distance. No wolves howl back.

As he stares at the pale stone he feels himself getting angry. "This is the only fucking proof you lived. A stupid rock with your name on it." Deidara drops to his knees in the grass in front of the grave marker.

"No one even cares that you're gone." Its a cruel thing to say and he hopes Sasori will forgive him for it. A snake hisses near by.

"That runt Tobi took your place. That stupid, stupid boy took your place in Akatsuki, Sasori, un. He's nothing special. Just a runt with no where to go, wanting to fit in with the bad boys and girl. He should have gone to Orochimaru; that snake bastard is always taking in strays, un." The blonde takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. It doesn't work very well.

"Sasori, I'm so sorry. I never thought that old hag and little girl could kill you, un." Now he feels guilty. Deidara has no way of knowing what would have happened if he stayed there. Maybe both of them would be dead. Right now that sounds a whole lot more appealing than living.

"I mean, you were so strong. You had that awesome slow-killing poison. And there wasn't an antidote until that little girl came along." Now he feels even more guiltier. Neither of them had known that the pink haired brat had come up with an antidote. How could they have? Ignorance doesn't stop him from feeling guilty though.

"I thought you could handle yourself, un. I mean, you're amazing and they were so pathetic. That copy ninja and the Kyuubi boy, I thought they were hard, but at least I didn't die. Why did you die, Sasori? You outnumbered them, un. You were so strong. You had the ultimate defenses and attacks." A tear rolls down his cheek.

"Remember when we used to fight all the time, un? About how art is supposed to be? Well, I still stand by my first statement. Art is supposed to be temporary. Every piece of art can burn in Hell for all I care, except for you. You should have..." He finds that the words get stuck in his throat. Deidara's blue-gray eyes trace the letters of Sasori's name.

_"Che. Art is meant to be everlasting, Deidara." From inside the human puppet Sasori sounds gruff. Deidara runs to catch up with his partner, cursing his shorter legs, before Sasori can complain about their pace. _

_He shakes his head in denial. "Its meant to be temporary, un. A beauty that you can't take for granted because it will explode in your face." He considers it for a moment, even though they have been over this a thousand times before. "If you take art for granted eventually you'll stop seeing the beauty in it." _

_Sasori is already shaking his head. "Whats the point of beauty if its not eternal for all to enjoy?" Deidara laughs at the statement. Sasori doesn't care about anyone. _

"_Since when do you care about others enjoyment, un?" He can't keep the laughter out of his voice and doesn't try. Deidara can feel Sasori staring at him through the eyes of the puppet he's encased in. _

_After a pause a sigh comes from the puppet. It has Deidara wondering. "Come on, brat. I hate waiting." That sounds like the Sasori he knows. Deidara smiles and nods. _

_They continue on searching for a new Akatsuki lair. Its somewhat surprising how often they move locations. But being wanted criminals does tend to make it difficult to stay in one place long. A flash of pride goes through him. He's a wanted criminal! A member of the feared Akatsuki! _

_When he gets tired of walking the young blonde sticks his hands in his clay pouch and lets the mouths on his palms chew the white substance. After a few minutes a bird of clay hops onto his hand. Deidara makes it grow to monstrous proportions then hopes on and flies above Sasori. It might be using up all his chakra but at least he doesn't have to walk anymore. _

_His storm cloud eyes stare down at the huge puppet surrounding Sasori. His partner is a mystery to him. He's never seen what Sasori looks like without that puppet on. For all he knows Sasori is a girl. "Hey Sasori." Deidara calls down. _

"_What?" The reply sounds angry. Deidara smiles to himself when he thinks of how much more pissed off Sasori is going to get. _

"_Why do you wear that huge puppet around you, un?" None of the other Akatsuki members will tell him anything. It gets really irritating being kept out of the loop. Itachi told him its because he's the youngest. _

"_Fighting." The gruff reply tells the blonde that Sasori doesn't want to talk about it. Deidara ignores the obvious warning. Sometimes his curiosity gets the better of him. _

_Being brutally honest, Deidara says, "I think its ugly, un." Observing Sasori does not answer any questions. He's about as informative as a rock. _

"_I don't care." His voice sounds even more irritated. It makes Deidara's smile widen. Secretly he's glad that Sasori can't see him from up here. _

"_No really, its hideous. So either you look worse, you're very sexy, or you're a woman and don't want anyone to know. Konan-San would be thrilled, un." Personally Deidara is hoping for the sexy one. If there was someone unattractive in Akatsuki it would kind of ruin their perfect image. Can someone get kicked out for being ugly? _

"_Deidara! Concentrate on the mission!" The puppeteer snaps. Uh-oh. Maybe a little bit more won't hurt. _

_Deidara leans over the edge of his bird. "But Sasori-Sempai! Everyone else is looking too, un, why can't we talk?" Deidara whines. The blonde doesn't whine very often because he finds it irritating but he can make an exception for the sake of pissing off Sasori. _

_The answer is short and to the point. "Because I don't like you." It also causes something in the blonde's chest to hurt._

_Deidara watches as Sasori expertly puts together a puppet. He's been working on this one for a few hours and has finally finished it. Usually, because he has nothing better to do, the puppeteer would work on the puppets for days. And usually, because Deidara is his partner and also has nothing better to do, he watches Sasori build puppets for days. Sometimes he falls asleep in the puppeteer's room on the bed._

_There didn't used to be a bed here. In this corner there had been a wooden chair and a bunch of puppets. Then one day the bed appeared. Sasori never joined him. As soon as he knew the man never left that stupid ugly puppet. Just once he wishes Sasori would pay attention to him for days on end. _

_The day Sasori told Deidara that he doesn't like him was the day the young blonde fell in love with him. Okay, so that wasn't the day exactly, but it was the day he realized he had feelings for the puppeteer. As far as he knows its only natural to love your partner; at least if you're in the Akatsuki. _

_A yawn forces his jaws apart. Sasori throws the completed puppet aside and starts a new one. Just by looking at it Deidara can tell that this one will take several days. With a sigh he lays down on the bed and looks at Sasori's back...well, the puppet's back. His eyelids are heavy with sleep and his body tired from not moving much. There hasn't really been a reason to leave Sasori's room except for food and bathroom breaks. Slowly he slips into unconsciousness. _

_**Thump thump...thump thump...thump thump... **The steady thumping fills his ears as he becomes aware of something next to him. Slowly Deidara opens his eyes. At first everything is blurry but then he makes out a body beside him. Well, from that angle it looked like a body. Lifting his head he sees that its not a human body but a redhead puppet that is laying beside him. _

_The puppet is about his height. Its body looks almost like its made of skin. The eerie teenage puppet faces away from him. Deidara's eyes scan the room for his danna. On the workbench he sees the unfinished project from yesterday and in the corner of the room is the puppet that holds Sasori. So who was this? _

_This was a new puppet, one Deidara had never seen before. The blonde could have sworn he's seen all of the puppets..."Nnn..." Deidara scrambles to the far side of the bed until his bed hits the wall. That was a very human, very non-puppet sound coming from the puppet on the bed. _

_Maybe Sasori is trying to trick him? No, this puppet has a heartbeat. Deidara's eyes widen with realization. "Sasori-Sempai?" he asks cautiously. He feels just a little foolish talking to a puppet that isn't the one Sasori is normally in. _

"_What do you want, brat?" The puppet next to him growls. Deidara covers his mouth with his hands before he screams. Oh shit this thing is Sasori! His voice is so different. Wait, Sasori is a puppet? _

_Now that he's presented with a question Deidara really doesn't know what to say. "Um...Were you asleep, un?" That was lame. _

"_I don't need to sleep, Deidara." The puppet answers. It kind of creeps the blonde out. Maybe because its not exactly the same voice and he's used to talking to the other one. He takes a deep breath and tries to think of a reply._

_The answer comes to him when he glances down. "Then why do you have a bed, un?" That seems as good a place to start as any. He kind of wishes that the redhead puppet would look at him. Does it have eyes? What colour are they? Is this puppet a human puppet? _

"_Because you sleep in here." Well, he should have known that .Now that he thinks of it, Deidara also should have known that Sasori himself was a puppet. Its still hard to wrap his mind around this._

"_Sasori-Sempai?" Deidara asks cautiously. He has the feeling that he was supposed to remain asleep. How long has he been doing this?_

"_What brat?" Sasori snaps. The puppet shifts and Deidara hears the soft sound of wood against wood. Weird. _

"_Are you a puppet?" _

_There is a brief pause then the redhead puppet sits up and turns to face him. The puppet has gray eyes. Deidara's stormy-blue eyes take in the hose where Sasori's stomach should be, the circular thing where his heart should be, the little door beside it. "Almost Deidara." _

_This is the real Sasori._

"_Ahh...S-Sasori...unnn!" Deidara raises his hips so the redhead goes deeper. The puppeteer doesn't reply verbally, merely thrusts harder, deeper into the blonde beneath him. Sasori pants and Deidara thinks its an odd sight seeing the puppet pant. "Sasori!" Deidara moans his lover's name loudly when his sweat spot is hit. Heat coils inside his body and he feels himself tightening. Its too soon to cum._

_Sasori thrusts into him again, catching Deidara's mouth with his own at the same time. Deidara slips his tongue into the other's mouth and tastes the odd flavors that make up Sasori. A smooth hand stokes his manhood, producing another throaty moan from the blonde. Oh fuck trying to hold out longer. The pleasure explodes throughout his body and his cum coats Sasori's hand._

_Exhausted from the sex, Deidara lays back. Sasori slips out of him and wipes his dirtied hand on the sheets. Deidara smiles to himself. Just because he's a puppet doesn't mean the sex isn't amazing. It is awesome and Deidara wouldn't trade Sasori or this moment for the world. Sasori lowers himself so that he's half on Deidara. His red hair tickles Deidara's skin and the blonde lets out a small laugh. "Love you Deidara." The words make his heart ache almost painfully. _

_He never thought Sasori would ever say that to him. "Love you too, Sasori, un." He answers. His voice is thick with half a dozen emotions. They lay there, Deidara because he's dead tired and Sasori because he wants to stay with his lover, and hold each other. Deidara is happier than he ever thought possible. His danna loves him._

By now Deidara can't even look at the tombstone, so overcome with grief he is. His legs are pulled close to his chest and his face buried in his arms. A pain so intense that it takes his breath away plagues his heart. All around him the world is silent, aside from the soft sounds of his sobbing.

He senses that the sun is going to come up and knows he needs to get home. "You should have been the one eternal piece of art, un, so that I could have you forever." He whispers to the grave.

The blonde sits there for a few moments before suddenly becoming aware of a familiar pressure against his back. "Love you Deidara." Sasori's words are softly whispered in his ear. His gray-blue eyes widen.

"L-Love you too, Sasori, un." Deidara says back, completely awestruck and heartbroken. Gradually the feeling of Sasori's presence leaves him and he realizes how cold it is. The ice before the dawn. Maybe his danna is eternal.


End file.
